Career
He was orphaned at the age of 11, spent four years at the McClelland Home in Pueblo, Colorado, then was taken in by a foster family at the age of 16 and enrolled in Central High School. After graduating from high school in 1940, he hitchhiked to Los Angeles, California, and found a job in the mailroom at Paramount Pictures, quickly ingratiating himself with studio head Buddy DeSylva. A year later he became Paramount"s youngest staff writer
World World War II
During World World War II, Rowan served as a fighter pilot in the United States Army Air Forces.
He flew Curtiss P-40N Warhawk 42-104949 currently recorded under N537BR and shot down two Japanese aircraft before he was downed and seriously wounded over New Guinea. Comedy team
After his discharge, Rowan returned to California where he teamed up with Dick Martin and started a comedy night-club acting
The team had appeared on television before but it was not until the success of a summer special in 1967 that they found fame on Laugh-In. Rowan retired in the early 1980s and spent the remainder of his years between his residence in Florida and his barge in the canals of France.
In his 40s he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, which led to his becoming insulin dependent.
He died of lymphoma in 1987 in Siesta Key, Florida. Turturro"s character jealously asks the Central Intelligence Agency to tap Rowan"s phone to see if he is contacting McGuire as part of a deal to buy mob assistance in a plan to kill Fidel Castro at the Central Intelligence Agency"s behest.